Okay, so if you read yesterday’s post, you’ll know I made bacon-infused bourbon over the weekend. And when my bacon bourbon was complete, I wanted to get some expert opinions on its flavor. Where better to go than to the local teamsters? Well okay, not actual teamsters, but the union stagecrew at the local performing arts theatre more than did the trick.
I took my first sip (neat) with Tony and J.O., each of whom immediately gave rave reviews, claiming that they could indeed taste the bacony smoke, and that it took the slightly sweet edge off the bourbon. I agreed.
After that we made a batch of Manhattans (sweet vermouth, dash of bitters). J.O. felt that the bourbon would have been better served as a Perfect Manhattan (half sweet and half dry vermouth, dash of bitters) but all in all, the cocktail was enjoyable and we got two enthusiastic thumbs up!
About a half hour later, Todd (seen here with crazy opera props behind him) came along and did the same tasting procedure as we had. He said he couldn’t taste the bacon at all. He begrudingly said maybe he could taste a little smoke, but not really. Later he thought that his experience was being tainted by the plastic cups I was serving in. Apparently Todd’s too good for my white trash martini glasses. In the end, everyone decided we should try this again with a larger group of tasters, glass stemware, and maybe an added step in the infusion process, to be decided by me.
And so we’ll give it another go. And we’ll all have to drink more bourbon. Darn.
(Yes, I’m the idiot who took at the slightly blurry photos. Forgot my camera and apparently my phone camera is not that rad.)
Another thing that might be affecting your final product is the general smokiness of your bacon- if you’re using the Oscar Mayer in the picture. Maybe for the next batch, you should get out to a butcher (or your local natural foods store, or farm, or whichever!), and get some nice, thick, freshly smoked bacony goodness. Not only will the grease have more flavor (mm.), but you’ll get to eat increasingly delicious hunks of bacon. Yum!
Fantastic advice, JJ! I honestly hadn’t thought about the quality of the bacon. I’ll give that a go!